Come to Colorado.

Happy 2006 from the Taylor Crew!

Clockwise from Top: RedSuz, Jake, Mike and Becca, Nate and Jessica, Me, Janelle and Chris, BlondeSuz and Barrett, Drew and Lisa, Lynn-rd.

I have officially returned to Washington, via Ohio, Indiana, and Colorado...and 2 1/2 weeks after leaving the Northwest, I am trying to re-orient myself to my home! It is good to be back...

Most recently...I enjoyed a few well-spent days with my best Taylor friends in Colorado. We laughed together, ate together, worshipped together, and cried together. These 13 people have taught me about community, about loving the Lord fully, and about vulnerability and accountability. They make my life so much richer for knowing them!

For the past seven years, no matter where we are living, we have gathered for a "New Year's Extravaganza." This year marked perhaps the most elaborate of our occasions. There were beautiful snow-covered Rocky Mountains, and there was lots of fun cooking together in the kitchen and singing Karaoke in the living room.

The highlight for me for Christmas break was definitely the hundreds of good conversations I was able to have with people all over the place, both at home in Ohio, in Indiana visiting friends, and finally, in Colorado...all of these times were too rich to summarize...

So. Here are a few photographic highlights of New Year's 06. May everyone be so blessed to have as good and as dear as friends as these:

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Before the big party started, six of us traveled in a 5-seater Nissan to hike through the snow in Rocky Mountain National Park! Beautiful! We discovered that lakes in Colorado freeze over and that snowshoes are probably a good investment if you plan to hike in the snow a lot.

Left: RedSuz and Me smiling for the camera at Nymph Lake in RMNP.

Right: Shane, RedSuz, Jake, Janelle, and Chris grin because we have discovered that snowballs in the Rockies are very fun weapons!

An Afternoon at Copper Mountain Resort

On New Year's Eve Day, four of us who were not brave enough to tackle the big slopes (smartly!) traveled up to the mountains to bum around Copper Mountain. It was a beautiful afternoon of watching the graceful skiers, and it provided the opportunity for my worlds to collide (as they have many times) by introducing my Taylor friend to a few of my Washington friends (Zach and Bucky) who happened to be at Copper Mountain on the same day! Yay for knowing everyone in the whole world! (Not quite.)

Left: RedSuz, Janelle, BlondeSuz moments before we began our "Olympic Ski Commentary" of the people on the slopes.

Right: Zach, Bucky, and I laugh about how odd it is that we should run into each other in a state none of us live in!

The Gala Event: New Year's Eve

This year's New Year's Extravaganza was the largest to date, with over thirty people in attendance at Chris and Janelle's home in Evans, Colorado. There was great food, great karaoke, and some very intense bouts with Electronic 20 Questions. I also debuted my original songs "Barrista Boy" and "Potential" for the excited crowd, which they appeared to enjoy. Hooray for spending the holiday with my best friends!

Left: The party commences! L-R: Shane, Janelle, Jake, Barrett, BlondeSuz, Me, Becca, Mike.

Right: BlondeSuz and I battle our wits against Electronic 20 Questions. When asked to guess "Candle," it first guessed "Fetish." We were victorious! HaHA!